#facial reconstruction

[maked-art]

So, I saw this image on Facebook, and it was supposedly showing what Queen Nefertiti would have looked like in real life:

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti (namely other reconstructions). While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Remember, likes don't help artists but reblogs do!

[songs-of-the-east]

Kukruse Memm Reconstruction

"The Kukruse Memm (The Grandmother of Kukruse) refers to a thirteenth century woman from the Kukruse burial site in northeastern Estonia. This reconstruction is based on remains found in a well-preserved grave during archaeological excavations."

[bloodytittiez]

Benny had been a brilliant theorist, a college professor; now he was little more than a semi-human, semi-simian. He had been handsome, the machine had ruined that. He had been lucid, the machine had driven him mad.(...)

Tried to draw pre-AM Benny with the little facial reconstruction knowledge I have. It's nowhere near perfect, let alone accurate, but I wanted to try to do him justice.

[xeno-ana-art]

John Shaw Torrington🩵 An attempt at a facial reconstruction.. I did this in 2020 and for some reason was very hesitant/shy(??) about posting it. To be fair, not much “reconstruction” was necessary since he was in remarkable shape at the time of his exhumation (and I assume he still looks fabulous thanks to that good ol’ permafrost treatment🧊).

Now some thoughts… because I’ve never articulated this online before..💭

I’ve had a fixation on him since I was 14 (I’m 29 now) and have attempted many times over the years to draw him in a more…well, alive state..

and I’ll just say it straight up; I think he has a beautiful, ethereal face. I’ve always thought that, even when I was a kid. If he looks that way in death, I can only imagine what that beauty was like when he was among the living. I tried to capture that in this drawing..

Anyway.. I could ramble on…

This, I think, is the most presentable drawing out of all the attempts I’ve done in the 15 years I’ve ‘known’ him— though it certainly won’t be the last. 🩵

I’m planning on doing similar portraits of Hartnell and Braine… I expect Braine will be difficult because he was not in good shape compared to the other Beechey boys..

** I’m overwhelmed by the positive responses this piece got! Tysm everyone!🥲🙏 It really makes me so happy to see JT get so much love— and I’m sure it warms his heart as well 🩵

[theantonian]

Facial reconstruction of the Ptolemaic Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII (r. 51-30 BCE). This artistic representation of Cleopatra is primarily based on a bust from the Berlin Altes Museum, widely agreed to depict Cleopatra. In addition to the Berlin portrait, the features in this reconstruction are based upon contemporary coin portraits and a bust from the British Museum which may depict Cleopatra.

[riverfrogartist]

Hiii people, I'm making a reconstruction of the partial Homo antecessor skull, i always liked them, but had difficulty visualizing the face very well.

The original is a juvenile, and incomplete, and this is more just a curiosity. But i really like how it turned out.

I show it compared to Kabwe 1 skull, a Homo heidelbergensis s.l. I got some measurements from Bone clones and tried to use them to estimate the full thing? I am still not very confident, very aproximate.

[thesilicontribesman]

'The Winterton Lady' Romano-British Burial and Facial Reconstruction, North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe

[ollywander]

I want to get an X-ray done of my skull and have an archaeologist who has never seen me use the X-ray to do a forensic reconstruction of my face